Why is it so broken?

"Right now, education in this country (especially in this state) is little more than a money trap. Sure, we are getting some kids out of high school, then out of college who are quite bright. But not nearly enough."

I am going to start this out with a slew of statistics:

Nationwide, 84% of all high school students graduate with a traditional diploma in four years.

About 65% of those high school graduates go on to college.

60% of the kids starting college, need some kind of remedial education before college credits can be earned.

40% of kids starting college graduate in four years; 60% graduate in six years.

In 2017, the average student loan incurred for a four year degree was $40,000 (public and private schools).

Okay Bird - you have now buried us in statistics. Why? What does this all mean? It means simply this. If this were a business model, the venture would never get off the ground, It would have been considered a failure from the get-go. But in Minnesota, where 1/3 of our state taxes and a bunch of our property taxes go into education, we are getting screwed. We are the shareholders, and our ROI for education is simple terrible.

At the local Big 10 University which is located in Minneapolis, how is this problem being addressed? To start with, the administration at the University is all tied up in knots trying to figure out who are boys, who are girls, who are both, who are neither. Some might scoff at this this and think it is just blog humor, but sadly, it is true. It is PC run amok instead of worrying about education the youth.

Let me come with this premise. I like many of us, have worked with some sharp folks. I have also worked with my share of educated idiots. To become an educated idiot, it all starts in our failed government school system. It is the same old, same old, every year. The fact that 60% of the kids who manage to graduate STILL need remedial classes in college, should be a bell ringer. Plus the fact that a kid can graduate from college, tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and STILL not know much, should be a louder bell ringer.

Now I am not an educator. I am a retired business guy. I do know how to read stats. I do know good stats from bad stats. And these are bad stats. Most astute CEO's, seeing metrics like these in his or her organization, who do an immediate reclama. In other words, stop what you are doing, get out of the ditch, and find a better way.

Right now, education in this country (especially in this state) is little more than a money trap. Sure, we are getting some kids out of high school, then out of college who are quite bright. But not nearly enough. The rest are left to wander, living their lives, carrying a huge a debt on their backs. The taxpayers? They are left with less money for their families, as this broken education system continues to limp along.

It is sad that in 2018, we are still so stymied by this failed system. It really should not be that hard to fix. If we could get rid of the NEA and Education Minnesota, that would be a great start.Turning Minnesota red would be the next step. We can fix it now, or wait four more years when it is a whole lot harder to fix. The choice is ours.